World highlights

¤ US President George W. Bush was under pressure from some of his closest allies to turn to arch enemies Iran and Syria for help in stabilizing Iraq amid Iraqi government paralysis and fears of all-out civil war. A suicide bomb that killed 11 Iraqis on a minibus and news that at least nine US and British troops died in the previous two days kept the pressure on Mr Bush as he met the bipartisan Iraq Study Group to talk about changes in Iraq policy.

¤ Lebanon's political crisis deepened as a depleted cabinet approved draft UN statutes for a tribunal to try the killers of ex-premier Rafik al-Hariri despite the resignation of six pro-Syrian ministers. Official sources said the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora would now send the draft back to New York and wait for the final text on the special court to return.

¤ A US-educated Palestinian academic is the top candidate to replace Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas as part of a bid by rival factions to ease a Western aid blockade, Palestinian officials said. A senior official said 60-year-old Mohammad Shbair, a former head of the Islamic University in Gaza considered close to the governing Hamas movement, had agreed to be nominated for the post.

¤ Chad's government declared a state of emergency in the capital N'Djamena and some eastern areas, where raiders on horseback have killed hundreds of villagers in ethnic attacks in recent weeks. The measure included the appointment of special ministers with far-reaching powers for the affected regions and a tightening of media censorship.